The Goal Circle

Well, well, WELL! We are BACK after a COLOSSAL hiatus to see the netball landscape changed so much and WOW do we have a show (including Abbey’s little one giving a cameo for a minute or two!). We go all IN on the 2026 SSN teams! Who do we think is the best? Who do we think is a DARK HORSE? 

This is it, listeners! The FINAL episode of The Goal Circle! We discuss, naturally, the grand final which saw the Fever FINALLY come out the victors and the netball landscape change. We also have a few thank yous and parting thoughts for ya'll.on toFrom the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for devoting your time to discussing netball with us, listening to the show and engaging with the wider netball community. We're proud to have been able to deliver the show to you for 7 years, but it's time for us to retire and move onto new things!Get in touch with us on Twitter! @BLT_86, @bleekster and @abbey_mcculloch.The Facebook page will remain active! So keep chatting with us there :)Shoot us an email at nbleeker@hey.com or thegoalcircle@gmail.comWe'll be around! So please keep in touch. LOVE YA!

Well... hasn't the last 48 hours been eventful? Who said netball can't be exciting! Who said netball and the powers that be would continue to make minute-to-midnight decisions that change the shape of the sport? The Super Netball once again DELIVERS and so naturally Nick and Luke dissect the big grand final venue news and talk a little about the state of the ladder!

The LEGEND that is Cath Cox joins us on the show this week to discuss the state of netball in 2022 (it's GOOD!), the nervousness of picking the Diamonds as well as the importance of grassroots netball funding through the Woolworths Pick Fresh, Play Fresh grants! If you're an association or club looking to build on the future then we've chucked all the info you need below! 👇 Entries for Woolworths Pick Fresh Play Fresh Grants are now open for netball clubs and associations! Head to pickfreshplayfresh.netball.com.au/grants to apply for your club before Sunday, 19 June!Woolworths NetSetGO is Australia’s official netball starter program for girls and boys aged 5 – 10, an extension of their Pick Fresh Play Fresh campaign aiming to improve the health and well-being of Aussie kids through netball.Woolies is currently supporting grassroots netball through Woolworths Pick Fresh Play Fresh grants - grants of $5,000 and $10,000 up for grabs for netball clubs and associations throughout Australia so that they can improve their facilities and netball activities.Entries are now open until Sunday, 19 June!More information on the Woolworths Pick Fresh Play Fresh Grants can be seen here: https://pickfreshplayfresh.netball.com.au/grants/

The Diamonds squad has been DROPPED so we react straight after the announcement with a cheeky hot take or two! THEN we drop our ups and downs from the last few SSN rounds. Ain’t that bloody good!

On this week's episode, we are in LOVE with a finely tuned Firebirds side that demolished the Lightning, we're not surprised by the Fever's hot rollin' through the league and we're absolutely enamoured by the youngsters getting a go across the SSN.  Per4orm Netball: https://www.per4ormnetball.com.au/

WARNING: We had major issues with our recording for this one, unfortunately! So you'll be listening to a Zoom call which Nick has tried insanely hard to salvage. BUT on this episode, we discuss all things round 1 of the Super Netball! The Fever demolish the Lightning (what will Sunny Coast do?!) how do the Swifts replace a treasure like Sam Wallace, and the Thunderbirds get on the board early! It's all RIGHT here. Sorry about the audio!

The SSN is nearly hereeeee and we are BIG TIME BACK NOW! On this short and sweet number ahead of the first centre pass of the season, all three of us deliver some FIRIN' takes on what to expect from round 1 of the Suncorp Super Netball!  We've got a new host at Simplecast, so please email us at nick.bleeker@hey.com or DM/@ us on Twitter to let us know if you have ANY issues on your podcast feed!

Aww YEAH! The Suncorp Super Netball is nearly back and we're here to CHAT and dust off the cobwebs after a few months of being dormant! So we get IN on the upcoming Team Girls Cup and predict who takes the victory and how the teams are going to approach the pre-season CLASH! WE BACKKKK.

IT'S BEEN A WHILEEEEEEE! But we're BACK for a free agency analysis via ZOOM. You'll hear Abs the clearest she's EVER been! There's all the tea in the world, some cheeky teases and we answer YOUR questions as the free agency dust settles. Netball pls come back SOON!

WE ARE BACK AGAINNN! Virtually, once more, as Luke got the traffic timing wrong to Nick's new place but that doesn't stop us! We dive RIGHT IN on the Super Netball, what the Swifts did right and where the Giants struggled BUT we also have a QUICK chat about free agency and the status of a few players. Sadly, NO riddles appear from Luke but there might be a few predictions in here that will make your head spin WHOA!

WHOA! It's a SURPRISE pre-Grand Final show that we recorded literally TWO HOURS before the game INSIDE Nissan Arena! So naturally, we keep it nice and trim so you can get some discussion going before the game. It's all SYDNEY DERBY, BABY!

It's an ALL-TIMER from us as Nick and Luke FIGHT over who flops worse (it's Luke) and Abbey has to witness it and deal with it hehe. We also discuss the 2032 Netball bid, the Diamonds selections and the notable omissions and inclusions PLUS SEMI-FINALS NETBALL IS HERE BABY LET'S GO!

WOW! This episode title makes no sense because Nick absolutely cooked the outro and now we've roasting him forever via the episode title. BUT WE ARE BACK! Fair warning: Luke and Abs are both tuning in via phone as the lockdown in QLD meant no in-studio taping, unfortunately. So we take a different approach this week and go in TEAM BY TEAM to discuss where they're at in the competition but their future beyond the 2021 Super Netball season!

It is a COLOSSAL episode today where Abs SHOCKS everyone with another swear word WHOA! We dive right into the new South Australian hub and the remarkably quick and transparent job new CEO Kelly Ryan has done in ensuring the Super Netball finishes its season. PLUS we go in on all the round 10 goods ahead of this weekends games! A LEGENDARY EPISODE ONCE MORE

A little LESS spice this week as we dive into a round of SURPRISES and UPSETS! WOW. We talk about the Giants slide at the moment, how impressive the Fever and Swifts game was, the choke of all chokes from the Lightning and ICE COLD GEORGIE HORJUS

BIG TIME LANGUAGE WARNING! There are a lot of swears (from Nick, of course) in this JAM-PACKED episode of netball goodness where we dive into the Fever Vixens drama that unfolded last week and the SSN's lack of response across the board BUT it's not all doom and gloom! We also talk mad shop about the back end of the season and who has surprised and NOT surprised us! This might be a true TGC CLASSIC!?

ROUND SEVENNNN is over and the Lightning played one of their best games in yonks, the Vixens had one of their worst games in yonks and Nick thinks the Swifts were pretty stinky this weekend so please forgive him for being a bit harsh on the Swifts but also beat him up if you need to. Oh and the Fever are still unstoppable!

Luke is in lockdown, Nick is lonely and ABBEY RETURNS! The Fever are still RED HOT this season, while the Thunderbirds notched their first solid win against a Vixens team that is still struggling to keep their finals hopes alive. Do the Lightning need to just accept the super shot and launch it? Where does Rahni Samason sit in all the lineup dramas? SO MANY QUESTIONS WHICH WE ANSWER THIS WEEK!

RAHNI SAMASONNNNNNNNNNNN. Also Luke has a nice shirt, Nick teaches a thing or two about his Superleague training AND we discuss one of the greatest rounds of netball we've seen in AGES. Should Harten have shot the ball? Who beats the Fever? What's going on with the Firebirds? Is USC Stadium's crowd the best? LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS IN THIS ONE!